Hey everyone. I used to be very consumed by social anxiety, to the point where I would freeze in front of people and even avoid people that I had known for a very long time. I was constantly consumed by anxiety - so much so that I slipped into an addiction as a coping method - my life was a living hell. But, somehow, I was able to turn it around, and I just wanted to share with you how I did that.

1. I identified the problem.
2. I began to engage in regular exercise.
3. I saw a counselor for a few months.
4. I eliminated anxiety provoking situations and people (bad friends/bad job)
5. I learned to avoid anxiety-producing substances such as caffeine and alcohol (the latter was more difficult)
6. I decided to take a small dosage of medication (not for everyone but it helped me and I plan to be off it as soon as possible)
7. I made positive friends who were willing to listen to my problems (one of the best things that I did)
8. I continued to challenge myself to take risks in order to reduce anxiety, and worked on not getting down on myself for failing.

This is the briefest possible way I could state this. I just wanted to let everyone know how I am recovering from my intense anxiety issues. I still struggle with anxiety on occasion, but now, I have everything that I need - a great girlfriend, great friends, a job that makes me happy and pays decent enough, and enough money to pay for my needs and a few nice things. It took me a period of about five years to get this far, and there were lots of struggles and points where I fell back into intense anxiety, but I persevered with the help of my friends and made it. Just wanted to pass this along and let you know that full recovery is possible and can be done if you just stick with it!

It's also important to remember that anxiety is not always an abnormal reaction - so it will never be gone; it's meant to be there - but in some cases it is either an over reaction to the situation, appears out of nowhere for no real reason or it happens too often.

Keeping it in check so it happens at the right times is as good as it's meant to be I think. But it should never be gone completely.